stick your hand in there.

 

...ok











cheap paint brush.

 

paint it on

Go to your local hardware store and buy you some cheap paint brushes that does the trick for me

 

Paint it on 1/16-1/8" thick, work it into the joints to fill them. If your're a sick puppy you can use masking tape 1" from the joints and pull off before it drys to get nice clean edge.

 

I had a helper who used his hand once.... my god what I mess! There was pooky over stuff I have no idea how he even touched!

I always use paint brushes (unless I'm caulking a joint). I've heard some use a trowel or puddy knife, but that seems like too much work and wouldn't be a great finish.

And believe what the goat says... paint that stuff on thick, it won't hurt nothing.

 

all very fine answers,but i say do it the way i was taught,.....use your tongue

 

all very fine answers,but i say do it the way i was taught,.....use your tongue

Only with the solvent based mastic

 

Most of it is thin enough to apply with a paint brush, use the dirt cheepest 2" wide brushes the hardware store sells.

Use water based latex mastic, I prefere the stuff with fibers in it, stay away from the trowl thickness stuff and solvent based mastics.

 

all very fine answers,but i say do it the way i was taught,.....use your tongue

Only with the solvent based mastic

Tastes like chocolate!

 

Hopefully this is the stuff they sell to you there. The only stuff I use, just brush it on and take your time.

http://www.ductmate.com/products/proseal.asp

 

Thanks for all the ideas. I did try my hand and yes, what a mess. The tub of mastic I got from Home Depot is water based, but appears to be the trowel thickness variety. Brushing this goop on is not turning out to be one of my hidden talents. If I do the whole basement like my test spot turned out, when one of you techs comes out to fix my system you’ll think I hacked it all up. So it sounds like I can get something a bit thinner that will go on better with a brush.

Thanks Again

Rob

 

I just searched Google and as luck would have it, you can eat mastic. Look here. The Home Depot stuff I bought is actually Vanilla. I think they were out of the chocolate.

http://www.iherb.com/store/productdetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=SNS-01420

Rob

 

poor guy, nobody said to use rubber gloves, like the cheap ones in a first aid kit. They keep the paws clean because anyone who has worked with mastic knows even when you're careful, it still gets somewhere you dont want it. The gloves can be stretched over the mastic and pulled off inside out. presto! no more mess. I tend to like the 2 in. puddy knife myself. But opinions vary and most of them are acceptable.

 

The tube one for flat square joints, if you have round metal ducktwork you should use tub and small little brush.

 

Drywall taping knife/trowel on flat surfaces,your hand on round. Frost the cake....mastic isn't made to look pretty. Exposed duct can be double-wall if your concerned with asthetics, but it's costly.

 

Drywall taping knife/trowel on flat surfaces,your hand on round. Frost the cake....mastic isn't made to look pretty. Exposed duct can be double-wall if your concerned with asthetics, but it's costly.

What the hell are you guys using for mastic over there? Concrete?

Must not have proseal over there, paints on like.....well.....
....Paint!!

 

Drywall taping knife/trowel on flat surfaces,your hand on round. Frost the cake....mastic isn't made to look pretty. Exposed duct can be double-wall if your concerned with asthetics, but it's costly.

What the hell are you guys using for mastic over there? Concrete?

Must not have proseal over there, paints on like.....well.....
....Paint!!

You're not going to paint this stuff on, and it's sealed when done.What are you guys using, elastomeric paint with fibers in it? Our mastic is like frosting...thick.

 

I've used 2 types of mastic. The 1st is some grey stuff, it's thick like toothpaste (or chocolate frosting, if you prefer that). Paints on nice as long as it's not frozen.

The other kind I've used is also a water based (I think), but it had more of a paper mache feel to it, it was also an off white. That suff goes on ok, but not near as smooth as the grey stuff.

And for the life of me I can't remember the brands of either.

 

Drywall taping knife/trowel on flat surfaces,your hand on round. Frost the cake....mastic isn't made to look pretty. Exposed duct can be double-wall if your concerned with asthetics, but it's costly.

What the hell are you guys using for mastic over there? Concrete?

Must not have proseal over there, paints on like.....well.....
....Paint!!

You're not going to paint this stuff on, and it's sealed when done.What are you guys using, elastomeric paint with fibers in it? Our mastic is like frosting...thick.

Boy, I wish you guys wouldn't be so lazy and not read the whole thread... My link from earlier in the thread:

http://www.ductmate.com/products/proseal.asp

 

My ductwork in the ceiling of my basement has a significant amount of leakage which I want to seal with mastic. I see that it comes in a tube to be applied with a caulking gun or a large container to be applied like putty. I have already tried a small area with a drywall applicator and it looks like it's going to be a pain in the a$$ and sloppy looking. How do you guys do it? I hope you don't consider this a DIY question. I'm guessing that slopping on mastic is not really what you like to spend time doing.

Thanks

Rob

How significant of a leak is it, are there holes in the ductwork. It's ductwork not a submarine, it can have some leakage in the basement and not be a problem. The basement is part of the conditioned space of your home. I wouldn't worry about it unless the holes at big enough to throw a cat thru.

 

[/B][/QUOTE]

How significant of a leak is it, are there holes in the ductwork. It's ductwork not a submarine, it can have some leakage in the basement and not be a problem. The basement is part of the conditioned space of your home. I wouldn't worry about it unless the holes at big enough to throw a cat thru. [/B][/QUOTE]

You know I agree with you, but so much of what I have read seems to say that it's best to seal it all up. My leaks are typical, not big holes. Most of the leakage is from where the take-offs connect at the top of the main trunk. Right now the ceiling is is open , but I plan to finish it in the future and then the leaks won't contribute to conditioning the basement as much as they do now. The other problem I'm trying to correct is on the return side. When my system is running I can feel a very large amount of air being pulled under the door going down to the basement. I have a cat flap installed in the door so the cats can go down stairs and use their box, and you can actually hear a whistle through the flap. It appears that it's due to leakage in the return in the basement.

 

Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

Chuck,
It might be submarine ductwork

 

Chuck,
It might be submarine ductwork

LoL.......thanks I needed that.